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Which database should I use?

I need to create a database that can handle somewhere between 100GB and 1TB of mostly numeric data, and a .NET or a Java application which utilizes this database. There won't be multiple users, but speed is of primary concern. I would prefer running this database and the application in a high-end PC, not a server.

I've been considering both MySQL and MS SQL Server. Would MySQL be enough, or should I consider MS SQL Server or other database systems?

Without detailed specifications for both hardware and performance requirements, there isn't any way I know of to start answering your question specifically.

If you have enough experience using MySQL, you can configure it to be pretty fast or pretty reliable. If you are really good, you can configure MySQL to be both fast and reliable.

I've had much better luck with first time users getting Microsoft SQL Server running than MySQL. Both products require a fair bit of "geek factor" to make them work, but SQL Server seems to have a higher success rate for first time users due to the strength of the SQL Server community and the resources that Microsoft itself has put into making the product more accessible to first time users.

-PatP

In theory, theory and practice are identical. In practice, theory and practice are unrelated.

There are plenty of things you can do , regardless of the platform. Such as disk layout, RAID levels , and other infrastructure elements, which all assist greatly in IO throughput and response time.
What sort of queries are you running? fast transactional or long running queries?